Madama Butterfly

When thinking of how opera connects with modern audiences the word "classic" sticks out in my mind. A classic is something that stands the test of time because of how it relates to the common audience member regardless of where or when it is performed. Giacomo Puccini's Madama Butterfly, currently in production at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, is one of those classics.

  There are so many universal elements to this gut wrenchingly beautiful piece composed by Giacomo Puccini, ranging from American colonial interests to the individual desire for love & family. The story of Madama Butterfly is centered around that of the 15 year old former geisha, Cio-Cio San (Madama Butterfly) and her hope to for a secure life. That opportunity appears in the form of an American naval officer, B.F. Pinkerton. In a not so subtle criticism of American foreign policy as well as its egoism, Pinkerton sung by tenor, James Valenti, pays a marriage broker to procure for him a furnished house including an obedient, young Japanese wife. Unbeknownst to Butterfly, Pinkerton has no intention of staying for the 999 years that he has leased the house for. His plan is to return to the United States and find a real American wife. Butterfly is filled with nothing, but hope, faith, and love for her soon to be American husband. She has renounced her old way of life and culture for a new one, that of a dutiful wife. All of these assumptions, which she believes to be truth and law are only a cruel illusion that she will be forced to confront.

  The cast was a mixture of beautiful delight and unrealized potential. B.F. Pinkerton is sung, by American tenor, James Valenti, making his Lyric opera debut. Valenti has sung at many of the world's largest opera houses, including The Metropolitan Opera, La Scala, and The Royal Opera house to name a few. With that in mind, I had high expectations upon his first lines. He has a rich and round lower register that quickly loses depth and color as he moves through the passaggio in to the upper part of his voice.  His voice seemed unsteady with the tessitura that often remained in between the middle and upper register. Valenti's voice was often drowned out by Puccini's thick textures and plush orchestral sound, especially when having to sustain high notes as in the tenor's first act aria, Amore o grillo.

  An obvious and expected delight was soprano, Amanda Echalaz also making her Lyric Opera debut. Her voice is full, rich, and more than big enough to project over the orchestra in to the expansive hall of the Civic opera house, yet bright and connected as to bring out the beautifully expressive lines that were written for Butterfly. Ms. Echalaz's singing was quite expressive and dynamic. She employed a wonderful use of portamento which she used to bring out the wide range of emotions that Butterfly experiences throughout the entire opera. There were a few moment when having to sustain climactic high notes that, what I can only speculate as wanting to ensure that she would be heard, sounded a bit pushed, but not so obvious as to detract from the moment. The voices of Ms. Echalaz and Mr. Valenti did not seem to be well suited, apparent in the long duet, ending Act 1 (Bimba, Bimba, non piangere). Hers was consistent from bottom to top and had no problem being heard, while his was not only hard to make out during climactic sections when the orchestra was playing forte, but was at times out matched by Ms. Echalaz.

  Mezzo-soprano, Maryann McCormick playing house servant, Suzuki, not only blended wonderfully with Butterfly during their Act 2 duet, ( Il cannone del porto! also known as the Flower duet), but easily held her own in most every moment she sang. She showed a great deal of range in both her singing and acting. I enjoyed the warmth and depth of her voice that projected through the orchestra, but didn't lose any lyrical line. Like the others, Ms. McCormick sounded a bit tight on her sustained high notes against the plush sound of the orchestra.

  The part of Sharpless was sung by British baritone, Christopher Purves, who like Ms. Echalaz and Ms. McCormick, had a strong, rich sound that projected rather easily over the orchestra. I was delighted to hear how solid and grounded his upper range was without barking or breaking up the vocal line. The one slight criticism I had was the lack of dynamics in his performance, although it didn't take much away.

  The pimp-like Goro was sung by veteran tenor, David Cangelosi who did a wonderful job with the characterization as well as injecting tension in moments of calm.

 The comprimaro parts were sung by current and past members of the Ryan Center young artists program. In general, the men were overmatched against the large orchestra, making it hard to make out their lines. In their defense, most of these parts were written for confrontational moments for which Puccini wrote thick textures at forte, punctuated by deep percussion. The two stand outs for me were baritone, Anthony Clark Evans (Prince Yamadori) and Laura Wilde (Kate Pinkerton).

  I had heard Anthony Clark Evans sing before years ago on a You Tube recording of his college recital and was really impressed, so I was excited when I read that he had been a Metropolitan Opera council finalist, but was singing in many of this season's productions. Laura Wilde's beautifully colored voice blended nicely in the small moments she had and I wished to hear more of her.

  The orchestra did a wonderful job of bringing out the sweeping lines and varying textures of the score, although I would have liked it if conductor, Marco Armiliato would have shown more sensitivity to the young singers of the cast by restraining the volume a bit so as not to cover the vocal line. Chicago Tribune music critic, John Von Rhein mentioned in his review of the production, that some of the singers were either inaudible or had no "top". I would adamantly disagree with that characterization and go so far as to say that a statement of that nature is an overstatement and perhaps even more so, disingenuous. Obviously an opera such as Madama Butterfly performed in a venue as big as the Civic Opera house demands larger voices that can both carry over a large and project to the back row, it is still  the voice that drives the action. If young singers or voices that are not Botha like size are employed, then it is the responsibility of the conductor to adapt.
  The sparse set was both stylistically appropriate and effective given the directorial staging of the singers. There was enough open area to allow for comfortable movement or showing the repressive eyes, evident in the renunciation of Cio-Cio-San by her family in Act1. A red crescent pathway served as entrance and road to home for Madama Butterfly. The lighting was subtle, yet powerful as it fit the mood, colored by the score.